


Scream and Shout (I Wanna Get Out)

by ChillinLikeVillains



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Jax loves romcoms, Jax-centric, Thea loves horror movies, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, fight me, horror movies, short and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-10-17 22:29:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10603593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChillinLikeVillains/pseuds/ChillinLikeVillains
Summary: Thea loves horror movies. This is a well known fact.Jax loves romcoms. This is also a well known fact.Jax loves Thea and hates horror movies. These are not well known facts.Thea will learn both of these facts very soon.aka Jax tries to get over his hatred of horror movies, fails, but everything is alright anyways.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MissCrazyWriter321](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissCrazyWriter321/gifts).



> I don't know why I ship them, but I do now. They have joined the armada. So have some fluff.
> 
> This is unbeta'd, so apologies for any mistakes

Despite months of getting to know each other, dozens of dates, numerous cuddling sessions, and various encounters of a . . . physical . . . nature neither of them mentioned out of fear of being overheard by their older siblings (Jax still remembered the arrow that landed dangerously close to his crotch mid-battle and Thea still went tense whenever she heard the heat gun powering up), there was one thing Jax would never understand about his girlfriend.

Her love for all things horror and supernatural.

Seriously, they are  _ superheroes _ , are part of _ superhero teams _ , and regularly fight  _ honest to god supervillains _ on a monthly basis. They have taken down everything from drug dealers and human traffickers to aliens, ninjas, and an immortal time traveller who would one day become an evil dictator. They have literally  _ saved the goddamn world _ on  _ multiple occasions _ .

Yet Thea still gets an adrenalin rush from a good scary movie and will spend  _ hours _ on Wikipedia clicking through various urban legends, with the occasional foray into creepypasta territory.

Sure, it was hardly the worst habit to have, and Jax didn’t exactly have a leg to stand on as his own love of romcoms was a well documented and open secret amongst the heroes of Central City, Starling, and the Waverider.

What? They cheered his mom up after his dad passed and their overly optimistic plots were a good escape from the darker sides of being a hero. Fight him.

Anyways, movie nights with the rest of the Waverider crew had actually helped them bond and pulled them closer together, giving them a safe common ground for them to bond over. Jax mentioned this to Thea, Sara mentioned it to Laurel, and the next time the crew stopped by Starling Felicity excitedly invited them to join her and the rest of Team Arrow at her apartment for the next movie night. It would be in a few days since Oliver and Thea had left town to track down a source and wouldn’t be back for three days, but they could stay that long, right?

Rip reluctantly agreed (after receiving a mixture of pleading looks and threatening glares), and Jax was ecstatic. And then someone asked what movie it was, and Felicity shrugged and mentioned it was Thea’s turn to pick, and just like that Jax felt any kind of excitement flee his body.

‘Cause while Thea loved horror movies, and would undoubtedly bring a couple to watch, Jax couldn’t stand them, a fact that she was currently unaware of.

There was something about the darkness, the intense music, the jumpscares and the blood and the absurdity that made him think that maybe, just maybe, there was something real about these films. That, no matter how ridiculous it may be, when he goes to bed that night there  _ will _ be something under the bed or in the closet or down the hall and that whatever it is  _ is coming for him _ .

He knew it wasn’t logical. Knew that there was no way a killer in a scary mask was waiting just around the corner. Knew that ghosts and demons weren’t real (well, not the ones shown on TV at least). But that didn’t stop the fear, the paranoia, the little voice in the back of his head saying,  _ “What if?” _

So the horror genre? Yeah, Jax isn’t a fan.

But Thea was gonna be gone for three more days so they wouldn’t see each other then and the team would be leaving the morning after so he wouldn’t get to hang out with her afterwards, which meant that if he wanted to see his girlfriend at all while they were in Starling, he was gonna have to go to the movie night. And watch a horror movie or two. And probably not sleep for the rest of the month.

God, he could feel Grey glaring at him already, that weird mix of protective anger and deep concern surging through his mind as he heard future Stein say,  _ “You shouldn’t neglect your body like this. Perhaps Gideon can give you a mild sedative that will help?” _

Still though, it’d be worth it to see Thea’s delighted grin and hear her soft gasps and feel her hands tighten around his while her heart raced and . . . 

Jax just missed her. A lot. And if watching something that would require every ounce of his self control to not shit himself was what it took to spend time with her, he’d do it. If only he didn’t freak out so much when watching them - 

And then the idea struck.

Jax had three days before the movie night. All he had to do was get himself used to horror movies. He didn’t have to like them, just not jump and shriek like a girl every time something happened in them.

All he needed was a supply of scary films and a place to watch them. And after Thea gave him a key to her place the last time he was in town, he had them both.

Knowing Thea as well as he did, he knew she would demand that they wait until the sun went down and the lights were turned off to start watching anything, and so he waited for nightfall to begin his training.

He started off with the B-List movies Thea liked to watch on rainy days.  _ Monster Brawl _ ,  _ Tremors,  _ and  _ Zombeavers _ were silly enough that the scary elements didn’t really get to him, and with a limited amount of time before the movie night he was quick to move on to the classics.

_ Psycho  _ must have been a helluva lot scarier way back when, ‘cause the only thing that really got to him was the music.  _ Dracula _ and  _ Frankenstein _ followed suit, and slowly but surely Jax got confident enough to start with some of Thea’s personal favorites.

He would soon realize that that confidence was misplaced and that using headphones was a massive mistake, but for now he merely started up  _ A Nightmare on Elm Street _ , made a new batch of popcorn, and wrapped the blanket a bit tighter around his shoulders.

It took ten minutes for him to calm down once it finally ended, and he only screamed twice throughout the whole film, which he counted as a win.

Unfortunately, things were far from over, and Jax still had over a dozen movies that Thea swore were the scariest things she had ever seen. Reluctantly, and with slight terror, Jax selected the next film. And the next. And the next.

_ Blair Witch Project _ made him swear to never enter the woods again,  _ Dead Silence _ renewed his fear of dolls and  _ Babadook  _ his fear of basements, while  _ Sinister _ gave him a good reason to swear off babysitting for the next decade. And  _ It Follows _ ?

Literally his worst nightmare. And given some of the shit he had seen on the job that was saying something.

Suddenly it was the night before Thea was meant to return, and Jax only had a few movies left. He figured if he could get through these, he could watch anything Thea would pick for the upcoming night and be fine. Sure, he hadn’t slept in three days, and probably wouldn’t for the next three months, but as long as he could snuggle into Thea’s side for a few hours (without Oliver shooting at him, that is) it’d all be worth it.

If Jax had bothered to check his phone, he would’ve seen a text from Sara informing him that the Queen siblings had arrived a day early. He also would’ve seen further texts from Thea asking where he was, if he wanted to grab dinner with her before she crashed, and finally telling him she’d be at her apartment whenever he decided to text her back.

But Jax didn’t check his phone. He just started up  _ Grave Encounters _ and turned the volume on his headphones up a bit.

So he didn’t hear Thea unlock the door and drop her bag in the hallway. He didn’t hear her walk towards the living and stop dead at the sight of him curled up on the couch with his back to her while he watched something on her laptop. He didn’t hear her call his name twice, and he sure as hell didn’t hear her footsteps as she crept closer to him.

He did, however, feel her hand on his shoulder just as the demon-girl on screen turned around and screamed, mouth open impossibly wide and eyes straight black.

Jax let out a high-pitched scream as he simultaneously threw himself off the couch and turned around to throw a punch, forgetting both that he was wrapped in a blanket and still had earbuds in. Thea didn’t, it seemed, as she reached out to try and catch him, only to get jerked up and over the couch when he latched onto her arms and slipped on the blanket at the same time. Thea’s feet got caught on the edge of the couch as the earbuds tangled around Jax’s hand, and he felt the breath get pushed out of him as he hit the ground with Thea’s weight on top of him.

When the dust settled, Jax’s right hand was tangled in the earbuds, which were tangled in Thea’s hair, while his left was somewhere that would definitely get him shot if Oliver were to walk into the room right now. His legs were still wrapped up in the blanket and the laptop was several feet away, the movie still playing. Thea was on top of him, panting, with the tipped over couch pressing down on her and her legs straddling his hips.

In shock, all Jax could get out was a breathless, “Hey.”

Thea let out a laugh and smiled down at him, “Hey there, hotshot.”

“I thought you weren’t supposed to get back until tomorrow morning?”

“The guy got a bit careless, and we managed to corner him sooner than Oliver thought. So,” Thea shrugged, “here I am.” She sat up, wincing in pain as Jax’s hands caught on several knots and going still as he used his other hand to untangle the mess.

With her hair free of tangles, Thea managed to push the couch off and tilt it upright even as she remained perched on top of Jax. She looked back down at him with a teasing smile and said, “I didn’t think your voice could get that high.”

Immediately, Jax went on the defensive.

“You were the one who decided to sneak into your own place without turning a single light on -”

“Why were the lights off, anyway?” Thea interrupted, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Were you watching porn?”

“No!” Jax shouted, his face turning red. Really, that was her first thought?

Actually, he shouldn’t be surprised. This is the same woman who took him to a strip club for his birthday and ended up spending twice the amount he did.

“Then what were you doing that made you shriek like a little girl?” She looked closer at his face. “And why does it look like you haven’t slept - like, at all?”

“I was just-” Jax cut himself off. Suddenly his plan sounded a lot stupider than it had a few hours ago. And he hardly wanted to admit how much horror movies scared him to his  _ horror fanatic _ girlfriend. No, it was better not to say anything, just stay quiet, don’t let her break you . . . 

And then the puppy dog eyes were pulled out, and his resolve crumpled like paper.

From his position on the floor, Jax explained his lifelong aversion to horror movies and his plan to overcome said aversion through sheer exposure. Thea still seemed curious though.

“Why now? You said your team does movie nights every now and then, and that when you don’t like the movie you just hang out in the kitchen. If you’ve hated them your whole life, why try and learn to tolerate them now?”

Jax sighed.

“Because tomorrow is movie night and Felicity said it was your turn to choose, and I figured you’d be picking a horror movie.”

“So?” Thea asked. “You can just skip out on it. The others will understand, and if they don’t I know a few places I can stick an arrow without killing them -”

“But then I don’t get to spend time with you,” Jax interrupted, “and with you gone the past few days, I wanted to spend the night with you before I have to go back to the Waverider.”

Thea stared at him for a few seconds, and Jax worried for a second that he had come across as too clingy.

Then she leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.

He returned it, but raised an eyebrow at her when she pulled away. She just smiled.

“You’re sweet. But,” she said as she stood up and held out a hand, “there’s a little flaw in your plan.”

Jax, feeling dread begin to curl inside of him, shoved the blanket off, took her hand and asked, “What?”

She hoisted him up and, once he was standing on his own two feet, said, “I was planning on us skipping movie night so you and I could go check out the latest addition to the Queen family’s classic car collection.” Thea turned and walked into the kitchen, turning on the lights as she went.

Jax took one look at her retreating back and promptly face-planted into the couch.

It was a good thing he loved her as much as he did.

Suddenly, he heard glass shattering and Thea ran back to the doorway between the kitchen and living room.

“What did you just say?”

However, it was a bad thing that he sometimes verbalized his thoughts when he wasn’t paying attention.

Oops.

**Author's Note:**

> Come see me on tumblr at chillin-like-villains. I swear I don't bite.


End file.
